Arunachal: Satellite images being used to trace missing Everester Tapi Mara and assistant Nico Dao

Itanagar: Tapi Mara, the first Arunachal Pradesh climber to scale Mount Everest, and his partner Nikko Dao, who went to summit the state’s highest peak, used a satellite image to trace the missing Tapi Mara.

First climber Tapi Mara from Arunachal Pradesh and his companion Niko Dao have been missing since they set off on an expedition in the state’s eastern Kameng district.

East Kameng District Deputy Commissioner Pravemal Abhishek Pulomatala said on Monday that they are trying to study satellite images from the National Remote Sensing Center and the North East Space Application Center in Shillong, but are yet to locate the climbers. No clue has been found.

The district administration is continuously providing details to the families of Mara and Dao.

Polomatla said Meera had started an expedition to Mount Kiaristam (Mount Chiomo) which is situated at an altitude of 6,890 meters on the Indo-Tibet border.

However, Mra and Dao have been missing since August 17 as reported by the remaining six expedition members who arrived in Sepa from their expedition base camp on the evening of August 29.

He said that due to continuous rain for the past few days, all the rivers including Kameng, Kanya and Wapriang Bang have been flooded. After the weather cleared, four army helicopters remained on standby for an aerial search to trace the two missing climbers.

The state government has sought help from the Tezpur headquarters of the Indian Army, Gajraj Corps, in the search and rescue mission.